


Just a Glitch

by Severely_Lupine



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: Gen, Humor, Muggles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-23
Updated: 2009-11-23
Packaged: 2017-10-03 14:51:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Severely_Lupine/pseuds/Severely_Lupine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The wards on Hogwarts have gone wonky again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just a Glitch

A young man named Jonathan Sanders stood on a hilltop, the wind blowing through his hair.  He'd had a wonderful day of hiking and now was ready to pack it in for the night.

 

He'd just graduated from Stanford and had decided to backpack Europe before finding a job.  He'd started in Northern Ireland and was working his way east and south.  Presently, he was tromping through the Scottish highlands.

 

He was about to set up a small tent when he spotted a building not far away.  As he looked on it, just for a moment, there was a flicker and he thought he saw an old castle, but then it settled into what he'd first seen: a cozy-looking little hotel.

 

"Well, that's lucky," he said to himself.  He'd been too long in the elements, and the prospect of a soft bed was quite welcome.  With a fresh burst of energy, he trotted down the hill toward the hotel.

 

When he burst through the front door, panting and sweaty, the only person he saw was a teenage girl.

 

"Er . . .  hello?" said the rather pretty girl in an adorable accent.

 

"Hi there," Jonathan said, already using his 'charming' smile before he remembered that he was covered in dirt, stank like an elephant, and the girl looked like she couldn't be more than sixteen.  "I mean, um, where do I sign in?"

 

"Sign in?"  The girl had a look of growing caution that gave him the distinct feeling she'd picked up on his initial attempt to flirt and was somewhat horrified by the idea.

 

"Yeah, I um . . . sorry, I just . . . look, I just want a room for the night.  I've been hiking for three days, I need a shower, and if there's wireless internet here, that would be great, because I haven't checked my e-mail in a week."

 

The girl looked at him as if he'd just confessed to murdering five people with a pickax on the way here.

 

Without answering his inquiry, she ran out of the room, screaming, "MUGGLE!"

 

Jonathan scratched his neck.  "Right.  I'll just . . . wait here, then."

 

Less than a minute later, an old man with a ridiculously long beard came through the door behind the counter.

 

"And what can I do for you this evening, young man?" said the old guy with a smile and a distinct twinkle in his eye.

 

"Is that girl all right?" Jonathan asked.  "I think I might have scared her."

 

"She'll be fine," the old man assured him.  "It's only that we don't get many visitors."

 

"You don't get many visitors at a hotel?"

 

The old man continued to smile.  "Do you have any bags?"

 

Jonathan dropped his pack.  "Just the one."

 

"Are you alone?"

 

"Yeah." 

 

"Would you like anything to eat?"  The old man was still smiling and still hadn't pulled out any sort of registry.  Jonathan was beginning to get the distinct impression that old man was stalling.

 

"I'd really like to get cleaned up first," Jonathan said, wondering why elderly people always seemed to be so slow about everything.

 

"Of course," said the old man, but he didn't move. 

 

When he didn't follow that up with anything else, Jonathan asked, "So, should I sign something?"

 

"Ah!" said the old man happily and began to rummage in his pockets.  Finally, he held out a piece of scrap paper to Jonathan.  "Here you are."

 

Jonathan raised an eyebrow at him.  He was fairly sure this wasn't the normal way things were done, even in Britain.

 

Then there was an odd flicker around the room and the lobby of the hotel changed to look like the inside of a dilapidated old castle, and the old man's clothes changed into something like the rags of a beggar.  Finally, the old man's smile disappeared.

 

"What the—" Jonathan exclaimed, looking around frantically.  His eyes met the old man's and they just stared at each other for a long moment, neither moving, until Jonathan smiled and said, "That was _really_ cool!  I had no idea that holography like this had been developed!"

 

The old man smiled again.  "Thank you.  We do pride ourselves on our holigogy."

 

Jonathan blinked at the horrible mispronunciation and finally realized that something was definitely not right here.

 

Before he could question the old man any further, another man came down a set of stone steps that looked as if they could fall apart beneath him.  He seemed to be dressed like another transient, but something told Jonathan that was all part of the illusion.

 

"The wards are reset, Headmaster," said the man.  "Now, if you don't mind, I—"  He turned to look at Jonathan as if he'd just registered his presence.  "Who is that?"

 

"That is our guest," said the old man serenely.  "He came to rent a room at the hotel."

 

The other man stared at Jonathan for a moment, then let out a sharp breath.  "I suppose you'll want me to take care of _him_, as well."

 

Jonathan really _did not_ like the way the man had said 'take care of him'.

 

"That will not be necessary," said the old man. 

 

They were both staring at Jonathan now, and Jonathan was quite certain they were contemplating how best to dispose of his body. 

 

"Thank you for your assistance, Severus."

 

The second man huffed and stormed back into the depths of the crumbling old castle.

 

"Thanks anyway," said Jonathan, grabbing his pack.  "I'll just be going then."

 

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, my boy," said the old man, and Jonathan's stomach twisted.  The man reached into his pocket and Jonathan knew he couldn't get to the man in time. 

 

What the old man pulled out was not a gun, but a stick.  He pointed it at a thoroughly confused Jonathan.

 

"_Obliviate!_"

 

A young man named Jonathan Sanders stood on a hilltop, the wind blowing through his hair.  He'd had a wonderful day of hiking and was now ready to pack it in for the night.

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a prompt from NarcissaKnickerless: The wards have gone wonky at Hogwarts, and instead of looking like an abandoned mine shaft, it now appears as a small hotel. Write about first passersby to try to check in.


End file.
